The present invention relates to a disposable diaper and particularly to a disposable diaper with elasticized leg cuffs.
It is well known in this field of technique to provide disposable diapers with a pair of cuffs longitudinally extending in parallel to each other and having a tendency to be stood up toward the user's crotch in order that leakage of excretion which otherwise would possibly occur can be effectively avoided. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,051 discloses the technique according to which longitudinally opposite ends of such cuffs collapsed inwardly of a diaper are bonded to a topsheet and, in a crotch zone of the diaper, free side edges of the cuffs are folded outwardly of the diaper with opposed outer surface sections of the same cuff put one on another and partially bonded together so that a relatively wide space may be obtained between the free side edges of the respective cuffs in the crotch zone of the diaper. In this manner, there is no apprehension that unacceptably large area of the topsheet might be covered by the collapsed cuffs in the crotch zone and consequently the effective area of the topsheet for liquid permeation might be significantly reduced even though the cuffs are dimensioned to be relatively wide in order that relatively high barriers may be formed by the cuffs when they are stood up.
For the disposable diaper generally dealing with loose passage of high fluidity, the pair of cuffs having the tendency to be reacted toward the user's crotch may be arranged to define a relatively small space between their base and thereby to effectively restrain a spread of loose passage and therefore to minimize an area of the user's skin possibly stained with loose passage. Additionally, by dimensioning the cuffs to have relatively large width and to form relatively high barriers when they are reacted, leakage of loose passage can be reliably avoided even if the diaper is considerably spaced from the user's crotch, since the cuffs will satisfactorily function as barriers. However, reducing the space between the base of the respective cuffs and dimensioning the cuffs to be relatively wide will be accompanied with a problem that the cuffs may cover unacceptably large area of the topsheet, thus substantially reducing the effective area of the topsheet for liquid permeation and seriously preventing the excretion from being properly absorbed. While the technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,051 should have been developed to solve this problem, it is really difficult for this technique to achieve the desired end, since the free side edges folded in two of the respective cuffs are bonded together in the crotch zone and consequently the cuffs can not form the desired high barriers.